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Karey Dornetto gives us the background on last night’s lesbian-themed “Community”

Karey Dornetto is much more than a producer-writer on the NBC series, Community. She’s also the genius behind the now-legendary L Word parody, “Hi, I’m Ilene Chaiken,” the creator of “BRANTS,” the first-ever bra-pant solution, and with pal and fellow comic, Amber Tozer, someone who’s not above throwing dog poop at babies. I’m so jealous.

When we found out Karey had written last night’s episode of Community in which Britta (Gillian Jacobs) and her new friend, Page (Brit Marling) both think the other one is a lesbian, we got her on the phone immediately. Karey gave us some insight about writing last night’s episode, working in TV, and revealed a surprise about how the character, Page, got her name.

AfterEllen: What’s up with Britta and her new bestie, Page?

Karey Dornetto: Well, Britta has been called a lesbian by her peers a bazillion times. She’s super-ultra PC, so I thought it would be funny if she met a girl who she thinks is a lesbian. In fact, they both think the other is a lesbian. And they both want to be cool and be friends with a lesbian. They end up making out with each other but get pissed off when they find out neither one of them is a lesbian.

It’s not like lesbian kissing is new to TV, but I wanted to do something that I really hadn’t seen before. Neither one of them is gay, but they each want the other to be gay so they can be friends with a gay. Because it’s cool.

AE: True. Being friends with us makes straight people cool by association.

KD: And Brit Marling, who played Page, looks a lot like Gillian, who plays Britta. They’re both blonde and really pretty. And I just thought it would be funny if these two girls both think the other is a lesbian.

AE: Did you create the character Page?

KD: I wrote the episode, but we do everything as a [writing] staff. But that was my episode, and Page was totally new. And I picked a friend’s name: Page.

AE: Um, wait, what?

KD: For characters in my scripts, I pick names of people I know. I picked Page. I know Page.

AE: You mean Page Hurwitz? Or some other Page?

KD: Page Hurwitz is the only Page I know. So I thought, “Who we got?” and I thought Page was a good name.

AE: Does she know you did that?

KD: I don’t think so. I saw her the other night, but I don’t think I told her.

AE: You know, Page was one of my favorite interviews, ever. I’m going to tell her she’s in your episode!

KD: I’m sure she’ll be honored.

AE: I’m sure. How long have you been writing on Community?

KD: I think I came on on Episode 13, so, kind of the middle of the season, last year. I’ve never been on a show more than one season [laughs] so, it’s nice to see the characters develop. And it’s fun because you get to know everybody. So, it’s like we’re a community at Community.

AE: Why has it been hard to get a second season out of a job?

KD: Well, usually, it gets canceled. At one point, I thought, “I’m bad luck.” I came on Arrested Development in the third season, and that got canceled. I worked on a pilot in New York that got picked up for 13 [episodes] and that got cancelled. Then I got on The Life & Times of Tim [on HBO] and they got another season, but I ended up leaving there to come work on Community. Now, we’re in our second season. I finally broke my streak of killing shows.

AE: God, Karey. You were like the Ted McGinley of TV writers. Every time he joined a cast, the show got canceled that year.

KD: Oh, really?

AE: He was on the last season of everything. Poor guy.

KD: You’re like, “Ew. Is it me?”

AE: You’ve written for many different shows, including children’s shows. What genre or tone really suits your style the best?

KD: I only worked on one kid’s show and it was fine. It was cute and fun. But it’s not actually my sensibility. I’ve worked on animation, (South Park) which is cool because there are things you can do in animation that you can’t do in live-action. When I worked on The Life & Times of Tim for HBO, I had a t—y f–k joke. And you can only do that on cable, so there’s that. I enjoyed that.

But I really like this show, Community, for sure. We do a lot of cool, conceptual episodes and I like the characters. I love Britta — she’s a really great female character. We kind of put her through the ringer, and it’s fun having a character like that to play with.

AE: You also make a lot of videos of your own. Are you working on anything like that right now?

KD: We’re almost done here and going to have a hiatus for a couple of months. So, I’m writing a short film that’s going to have some gay stalker elements to it. That’s going to be fun. I’m writing a feature with one of the writers on the show.

The last short I did was last, last break with Amber Tozer where we bought s-t to throw at a baby. I love doing that stuff. This next short is not going to be a sketch. It’s going to be an actual short film. But it’s still going to be ridiculous. There might be nudity.

AE: Excellent. Who’s getting naked?

KD: It might be me. I’m not sure yet. We’ll see. Maybe just a bra.

AE: Maybe some Brants. I love your bra-pant solution.

AE: Do you think there are enough lesbians on TV?

KD: No, no. I know there are some pilots that were picked up that have lesbian characters, so I’m excited to see if any of them make it to network.

AE: Are you talking about I Hate that I Love You?

KD: Yeah, that’s the one I heard got picked up. I’m excited for that. Aside from Skins, some dramas, I can’t think of any prime-time half-hour shows. Well, there’s the character on Nurse Jackie, but I can’t think of any that are on prime-time, network half-hour shows.

AE: You can’t think of any because there aren’t any. Glee is supposed to be so very LGBT, but let’s admit it – it’s very “G” and not super interested in the “L.” It’s a missed opportunity. Where’s our Cameron and Mitchell from Modern Family?

KD: I think there’s an element of comedy when it comes to two gay men together on television. I don’t know. Maybe people don’t think two lesbians together are funny. Well, we are.

AE: Well, you’re a funny lesbian. I don’t know that all of us are.

KD: It would be nice to have a few on the air and be represented.

AE: Do people still come up to you about your L Word parody, “Hi, I’m Ilene Chaiken”?

KD: I met someone not long ago and it freaked me out because I forgot. Not that I forgot, but it was just kind of funny because I haven’t watched it in a while. And they are like, “Wait, you’re the one who did that thing.” And I’m like, “What?”

AE: You should go back and watch it.

KD: I should.

Community airs Thursdays on NBC.

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